Journal box construction for railway cars



Sept. 24, 1963 E. P. SMITH JOURNAL BOX CONSTRUCTION FOR RAILWAY CARS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 1, 1962 5 a4 35 55 FlG.1

Sept. 24, 1963 E. P. SMITH JOURNAL BOX CONSTRUCTION FOR RAILWAY CARS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 1, 1962 United States Patent 3,104,920 JOURNAL BGX CONSTRUCTEON FGR RAILWAY CARS Edward Payson Smith, Winnetka, IIL, assignor to Blinois ilialillway Equipment Co., Chicago, 11]., a corporation of ois Filed Oct. 1, 1962, Ser. No. 227,419 2 Claims. (Cl. 30840) This invention relates, generally, to railway car journals and it has particular relation to exterior radial bearing supports therefor. It constitutes an improvement over the constructions shown in application Serial No. 115,580, filed June 7, 1961, by Theodore J. Sweger and assigned to the assignee of this application.

Among the objects of this invention are: To provide for holding journal guides in a railway car journal box in a new and improved manner; to mount the journal guides on waste retaining ribs or ledges extending inwardly from the side walls of the journal box and to detachably secure the journal guides thereto; to provide spring wire loop members for encompassing the journal guides intermediate their front and rear surfaces with the loop members having depending leg portions extending through apertures or slots therefor in the ribs or ledges; to arrange for the leg portions to be biased apart and to have outwardly facing shoulder portions in holding engagement with the juxtaposed undersurfaces of the ribs or ledges; and to provide terminal sections on the leg portions extending laterally toward the respective side wall underneath the associated rib or ledge with an elongated resilient key extending therebetween.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a partial horizontal sectional view taken generally along the line 11 of FIG. 2 and showing a portion of a railway car journal box having a journal guide mounted thereon in accordance with one embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken generally along the line 22 of FIG. 3, the railway car axle being shown in dot and dash outline in order to show the details of construction of the journal box with the journal guide mounted thereon in greater detail.

FIG. 3 is a view, partly in vertical section, taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2 and partly in end elevation.

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of one embodiment of the spring wire loop that is employed for holding the journal guides in position.

FIG. 5 is a view, in end elevation, of the spring wire loop shown in FIG. 4, the associated journal guide being shown in broken line outline.

FIG. 6 is a view, similar to FIG. 1, and is taken generally along the line 66 of FIG. 7 to show another embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view, similar to FIG. 2, and taken along the line 77 of FIG. 8.

FIG. 8 is a vertical half section, taken generally along the line 8-8 of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a side elevation of the spring wire loop employed for holding the journal guide illustrated in FIGS.

6, 7 and 8.

FIG. 10 is a yiew, in end elevation, of the spring wire loop shown in FIG. 9, the associated journal guide being shown in broken line outline.

FIG. 11 is a top view of the spring wire loop shown in FIG. 9.

FIG. 12 is a view in side elevation of the resilient key that is employed for holding the spring wire loop shown in FIGS. 9, l0 and 11 in position.

FIG. 13 is a view, in end elevation, of the resilient key shown in FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is a top plan view of the resiilent key shown in FIG. 12.

Referring now particularly to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings, it will be observed that the reference character 10 designates, generally, a railway car axle which, in FIGS. '1, 2 and 3, is shown by -a broken line outline in order to illustrate more clearly the details of construction of the first embodiment of the invention. A railway car axle It) includes an axle journal 11 provided with an end collar 12 and it is arranged to rot-ate about an axis of rotation or its longitudinal axis indicated at 13 in FIGS. 2 and 3. The axle journal 11 is mounted within a railway car journal box, indicated generally at 14, which is of conventional construction. The railway car journal box 14 includes a horizontal top wall 15 from which vertical side walls 161-6 depend and they are interconnected at their lower ends by a bottom wall 17 which has a concave inner surface 18. This may be a cylindrical surface. The concave inner surface 18 of the bottom wall 17 terminates at its forward end in a concave inner surface 19 on the inner side of an end wall 20 which is located below a lid opening 21 (the lid not being shown). The rear end of the concave inner surface 18 of the bottom wall 17 terminates in a vertical wall 22 of a dust guard well 23 which is completed by a vertical wall 24. For-med integrally with the depending vertical side walls 16-16 are brass stop columns 2525 having concave surfaces .2626 at their lower ends. The brass stop columns 25-25 serve to guide ends 2727 of a journal brass or bearing 28 that is surmounted by a wedge 29. The side walls 1616 in the embodiment here shown are provided with integral waste retaining ribs or ledges 36- 3% for preventing waste packing (not shown) containing a lubricant from being carried around the axle journal 11 and between it and the bearing surface of the journal brass or hearing 28. It will be understood that the construction thus far described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings is conventional and that it may be varied in certain respects some of which will be apparent hereinafter.

It is desirable to limit the relative transverse movement of the axle journal 11 with respect to the railway car journal box 14. Such relative movement is likely to be caused during the starting or stopping of the car. It may be caused also as the result of shocks incident to shifting of the car and application of the brakes. In some instances the shift may be suflicient to move the axle journal 11 out of proper operative position with respect to the journal brass or hearing 28.

With a view to limiting such relative movement of the axle journal 11, journal guides 34-34 are provided. They are formed of suitable wear resisting material such as brass. It will be understood that they can be formed of composite material as may be desired. The journal guides 34-34 are interposed between the side walls 16-16 and the respective diametrically opposite sides of the axle journal 11. Each of the journal guides 34-34 includes a body portion 35 having a front face 36 that may be flat or curved and which is juxtaposed to the axle journal 11 as shown.

Each journal guide 34 includes a body portion 35 hav ing a front face 36 which is located in juxtaposition to the surface of the axle journal 11 but spaced sufiiciently far away to permit the axle journal 11 to rotate freely. A rear face 37 on each of the journal guides 34 bears against the inner surface of the respective guide walls 16 for the purpose of transmitting thrust applied to the front surface 16 therethrough to the journal box 14. As shown in FIG. 1 the rear face 37 is cut away centrally along the upper portion to accommodate the curved lower end 26 of the respective brass stop column 25. The lower portion of the rear face 37 of each journal guide 34 is curved 3 downwardly as indicated at 38 to overlie the correspondingly curved upper surface of the respective waste retaining rib or ledge 30. Intermediate the front face 36 and rear face 37 of each journal guide 34 is a groove 39 which extends along the top and around the ends and along end portions of the underside of each journal guide 34.

In order to detaohably hold each journal guide 34 1n position on the respective rib or ledge 30 a springwu'e loop, shown generally at 40, is provided. The details of construction of the spring wire loop 40 are shown more clearly in FIGS. 4 and of the drawings. Here it will be observed that the spring wire loop 41} includes a top section 41 that is arranged to lie in the portion of the groove 39 which extends along the top of the respective journal guide 34. Curved end sections 42-42 are shaped to conform to the curved end portions of the groove 39 and to grip tightly the ends of the respective journal guide 34 under substantial tension. Extending inwardly from the lower ends of the curved end sections 42-42 are bottom sections 43-43 which lie along the grooves on the underside of the respective journal guide 34 at the ends. Leg portions 44-44 depend from the inner ends of the bottom sections 43-43 and they are arranged to extend downwardly through apertures 45-45 in the respective rib or ledge 30 as shown more clearly in FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawings. Leg portions 44-44 have outwardly facing shoulder portions 46 46 below reentrant portions 47-47 and are provided for bearing against the lowermost outer edges of the apertures 45-45. It will be understood that the leg portions 44-44 are biased apart for the purpose of maintaining firm engagement with the lower outer portions of the apertures 45-45 and thus holding securely the respective journal guide 34 in operative position on the respective waste retaining rib or ledge 30.

The journal guides 34-34 can be readily assembled in the railway car journal box 14 when the journal brass or bearing 28 and the wedge 29 are removed and the axle is elevated with respect to the journal box 14. The journal guides 34-34 assembled'with the spring wire loops 40 can be readily inserted in the journal box '14 and the leg portions 44-44 inserted through the apertures 45-45 in the ribsor ledges 38-30. On application of sufficient downward force to the journal guides 34-34, the leg portions 44-44 are forced inwardly to clear the shoulder portions 46-46 with respect to the apertures 45-45. Then they snap outwardly to place the shoulder portions 46-46 in engagement with the lower outeredges of the apertures 45-45 or the underside of the respective rib 'or ledge 30. The journal guides 34-34 can be removed by reversing the foregoing steps.

Another embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIGS. 6-14 inclusive. FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 show the modified construction applied to the journal box 14 described hereinbefore. Here it will be observed that each side wall '16 is provided with a waste retaining rib or ledge 50, it being understood that the other side wall 16, as shown in FIG. 3, is provided with a like rib or ledge 50. In the construction here shown the rib or ledge 50 has a fiat portion 51 which is secured either integrally or as by welding to the inner side of the respective side wall 16 and it projects horizontally therefrom toward the other rib or ledge 50. Alon-g the distal edge of the flat portion 51 is a depending flange 52. The waste and lubricant (not shown) are provided in the lower portion of the journal box 14 as previously described and are prevented from being drawn upwardly between the axle journal 11 and the journal brass or bearing 28 by the Waste retaining rib or ledge 56 on each side. i

The journal guide 54 is mounted on each rib or ledge 50. It comprises a body portion 55 having a front face 56 that is juxtaposed to the surface of the axle journal 11 but is spaced slightly therefrom. Each journal guide 54 has a rear face 57 which, as shown in FIG. 6, is cutaway to accommodate the respective brass stop column 25. A flat undersurface 58 is provided on each of the journal guides 54 for overlying fiatwise the upper surface of the respective flat portion 51 of the rib or ledge 50. A groove 59 is formed in the journal guide 54 intermediate the front face 56 and the rear face 57. The groove 59 extends along the tpp of the journal guide 54, around the semicircular ends and extends part way from each end along the undersurface.

A spring wire loop, shown generally at 60, in FIGS. 9, 10 and 11, is located in the groove 59 and is employed for securely holding the journal guides 54 in place on the respetcive rib or ledge 56. It will be noted that the spring wire loop 6i) has :an elongated top section 61 that is arranged to lie in the bottom of the pontion of the.

groove 59 that extends along the top of the journal guide 54. Semicircularly curved end sections 62-62 are arranged to grip the correspondingly curved end portions of the groove 59 at the ends of the journal guide 54 with the arrangement being such that the journal guide 54 is gripped by the curved end sections 62-62 under sub stantial tension. The lower ends of the curved end sections 62-62 terminate in bottom sections 63-63 which underlie the journal guide 54 and are located in the portions of the groove 59 on its underside. They terminate in leg portions 64 and 65, the latter being slightly shorter than the former.

As shown in FIG. 8 the leg portions 64 and 65 are arranged to extend downwardly through slots 66-66 in the rib or ledge 59 and more particularly in the fiat portion 51 thereof. As shown, the slots 66-66 extend substantially entirely across the width of the flat portion 51; The leg portions 64 and 65 are provided with rearwardly turned end sections 67-67 that are parallel to each other and are spaced well below the undersurface of the fiat portion 51.

In order to lock the spring wire loop 60 in position on the rib or ledge 50 a resilient key, at 68, is provided. Its construction is shown more clearly in FIGS. 12, 13 and 14. Here it will be observed that curved intermediate sections 69 and 70 of the resilient key 68 are provided in ofiset relation for overlying the downwardly extending intermediate portions of the leg portions 64 and 65. The curved section 70 is at a slightly higher elevation than the curved section 69 in order to correspond to the shorter leg portion 65, the construction being provided in order to facilitate entry of the resilient key 68'into position and past the relatively longer leg portion 64. Oifset portions 71 and 72 of the resilient key 68 bear against the underside of the flat portion 51 and function to hold the resilient key 68 securely in position. A downwardly extending end section 73 provides a handle that can be gripped for applying or removing the resilient key 68.

The journal guide 54 can be inserted or removed when the journal brass or hearing 28 and the wedge 29 have been removed and the car axle 10 elevated with respect to the journal box 14. Under these conditions the journal guide 54 assembled with the spring wire loop 60 is inserted in the journal box 14 and the leg portions 64 and 65 are inserted in the slots 66-66. Each journal guide 54 is positioned so that its flat undersurface 58 lies flatwise on the upper surface of the respective flat portion 51 of the rib or ledge 50 with the rearwardly turned end sections 67-67 of the spring wire loop 60 spaced therebelow as shown in FIG. 8. Then the resilient key 68 is inserted in the space between the underside of the flat portion 5-1 and the upper side of the leg portion 64 and the insertion continues until the curved sections 69 and 70 overlie the leg portions 64 and 65 respectively. The journal guide 54 can be'removed by reversing the foregoing steps.

What is claimed as new is:

1. In combination:

(a) a railway car journal box having spaced vertical side walls and an axle journal spaced from said side walls,

shown generally (b) ledges extending horizontally from the inner sides of said side walls toward each other,

(c) each ledge having a pair of spaced vertically extending apertures therein,

(d) a journal guide on each ledge between each side wall and the diametrically opposite sides of said axle journal,

(2) a spring wire loop member encompassing each journal guide and having depending leg portions extending into the apertures of the respective ledge for holding said journal guides in operative position,

(1) said leg portions having sections spaced from the underside of the respective ledge and extending laterally toward the respective side wall, and

retainer key means has curved sections overlying the upper sides of the respective leg portions and oflset portions bearing against the underside of the associated ledge.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain May 19, 1938 Canada Sept. 18, 195-6 OTHER REFERENCES Modern Railroads, November 1953, pages 136 and 137 (g) retainer key means extending along the underside 15 relied upon. 

1. IN COMBINATION: (A) A RAILWAY CAR JOURNAL BOX HAVING SPACED VERTICAL SIDE WALLS AND AN AXLE JOURNAL SPACED FROM SAID SIDE WALLS, (B) LEDGES EXTENDING HORIZONTALLY FROM THE INNER SIDES OF SAID SIDE WALLS TOWARD EACH OTHER, (C) EACH LEDGE HAVING A PAIR OF SPACED VERTICALLY EXTENDING APERTURES THEREIN, (D) A JOURNAL GUIDE ON EACH LEDGE BETWEEN EACH SIDE WALL AND THE DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID AXLE JOURNAL, (E) A SPRING WIRE LOOP MEMBER ENCOMPASSING EACH JOURNAL GUIDE AND HAVING DEPENDING LEG PORTIONS EXTENDING INTO THE APERTURES OF THE RESPECTIVE LEDGE FOR HOLDING SAID JOURNAL GUIDES IN OPERATIVE POSITION, (F) SAID LEG PORTIONS HAVING SECTIONS SPACED FROM THE UNDERSIDE OF THE RESPECTIVE LEDGE AND EXTENDING LATERALLY TOWARD THE RESPECTIVE SIDE WALL, AND (G) RETAINER KEY MEANS EXTENDING ALONG THE UNDERSIDE OF EACH LEDGE IN OVERLYING RELATION TO SAID LATERALLY EXTENDING SECTIONS OF SAID LEG PORTIONS. 